The al-Hurriya bridge is the second to be secured by the Iraqi forces in the city, after securing one located further south, in the offensive that started on the western part of Mosul on Feb. 19. “We control the western end of the bridge,” said a senior media officer with Rapid Response, the elite unit of the interior ministry leading the charge through the districts alongside the Tigris river. All of Mosul’s five bridges over the Tigris have been destroyed but their capture and repair would help the offensive against the militants, who have controlled the northern Iraqi city since 2014.